the re-sit doesn't cost that much.
I imagine there would be bad press as a result of people with big egoes not being able to pass a multiple choice exam.
I have seen this, from V2 Master qualified people no less, and they tend to poo poo theV3 exams
From the perspective of one who has done the work and prep for a V3 intermediate (and is currently coming up for another) I can say the exams are no trifle despite their multiple choice structure _________________DYbeach
ITIL V3 Release, Control & Validation,
ITIL V3 Operation SUpport & Analysis
PMI CAPM (R)

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." George Orwell

There is no "ITIL Expert" exam. What you mean is the Manager's Bridge, for those who have the V2 Managers Qualification, like yourself.
This will be withdrawn on 30th June 2011.
This is NOT an easy exam, so be pre[pared for the possibility of a re-sit.
My problem with the V3 Multiple choice exams is not that they are easier, but that a correct answer may just be a guess, and what counts as "correct" may be that in the view of the examiners, but there are other, equally valid approaches. V2 Managers catered for this - multiple-choice does not.Also, passing the exam seems to have little to do with the contents of the cxourse, or how much studying you have done_________________Liz Gallacher,
ITIL EXPERT
Accredited ITIL and ISO/IEC20000 Trainer and Consultant - Freelance

I'm with Liz on the question of multiple choice. The issue is what does it test?

There is no scope to ensure that the examinee's interpretation of the question corresponds with the examiner's. It leaves no difference between mis-interpreting the question and mis-interpreting the examiner's intention.

So the questions you can answer are at risk and the ones you cannot answer, and therefore "guess", have somewhere between 20% and 80% chance of being "correct", depending on how many choices seem plausible to you._________________"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

It is not a question of lowering the bar at all, but improving the questions so that they a clearer. As a tutor,I sat the Managers Bridge exam when it was first released, along with about 20 other tutors. We were all highly-motivated (as we needed the pass to keep working), experts in Service Management (distinctions in V2 Managers, members of the examination panel for V2, 10+years of implementation) - we mostly all passed, but all struggled to understand the questions, disagreed with all answers, or agreed with 2, but managed to make "lucky" choices. One Intermediate exam had questions from another course in it!. The quality control was dreadful - poor grammar, mis-spellings etc.
So the pass rate has gone up, due to better qulaity control, and tutors "teaching to the test" (not what they should be doing).
My point remians that with these questions, reading the books and having a great course is largetly irrelevant to success - which cannot be right!_________________Liz Gallacher,
ITIL EXPERT
Accredited ITIL and ISO/IEC20000 Trainer and Consultant - Freelance

I am hoping to write my bridge in February in Vegas. I like that extra challenge... absolutely no guarantee that I will be completely sober for the exam. Casinos, restaurants, golf... who has time to attend classes?

Is Vegas not one of gambling hot spots (to call it a Mecca would be politically incorrect) of the world?
If so, your choice of locations is frighteningly apt _________________DYbeach
ITIL V3 Release, Control & Validation,
ITIL V3 Operation SUpport & Analysis
PMI CAPM (R)

"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." George Orwell

I did my pre-course studying using the Colin Rudd's "The Manager's Bridge Certificate in IT Service Management" and the 5 OGC's Key Element guides.

During the 4-1/2 day course, I used the instructor's printed slide show but reviewed the instructor's key topics in the 5 core books or the above mentioned materials.

The course was "teach to the test." So I asked my background clarifying questions during breaks. I didn't want to just learn the differences, I wanted to learn the V3 way._________________Ruth Mason
USA

My employer is willing to pay for me to do an online V3 Bridging Course so that I can upgrade my V2 Service Managers Certificate. Sooo, I am going to give it a go.

I would be grateful if anyone can offer any tips and hints for getting through the V3 Bridging as painlessly as possible

Morticia

Best advice I can give you is to do and re-do as many practice exams as possible as part of your revision. I guess I was one of the first few tranches to do the bridge and my experience was that there was at lease a couple of the questions where more than one option appeared to be correct......indeed even after the event, consulting the books we were still of the opinion that more than one of the options was correct so its good to prepare for the exams themselves as much as you can.

The subject matter will not be a whole lot different to what your used to but the lifecycle perspective on things will be. Overall, if you can strip back the cynical tools based approach (most of the folks who put together V3 produce ITSM tools or proprietary processes) it feels like an improvement over V2 with a business-led approach to IT Service Management.

Read the question very carefully.
Get your boolean logic sorted out (double negatives etc).
Discard the obviously ridiculous answers.
Answer according to the books, not real life.

For the ITIL V3 Mgrs Bridge, you will do well to be familiar with the pictures in the new processes in the V3 books (even a V3 Foundation book or pocket guide).

But best preparation as mentioned above is to do some practice exams.

Lastly, I spoke to someone today and they said that the bar has been lowered insofar as there are 20 questions, you need 80% to pass.
But if you choose the correct answer, you get 5 percentage points. If you choose the second best answer that is correct but "less correct", then you get 4 percentage points.

So the 80% pass rate hasn't lowered, but it's easier to get the 80%
Liz, can you confirm or deny this?

Read the question very carefully.
Get your boolean logic sorted out (double negatives etc).
Discard the obviously ridiculous answers.
Answer according to the books, not real life.

For the ITIL V3 Mgrs Bridge, you will do well to be familiar with the pictures in the new processes in the V3 books (even a V3 Foundation book or pocket guide).

But best preparation as mentioned above is to do some practice exams.

Lastly, I spoke to someone today and they said that the bar has been lowered insofar as there are 20 questions, you need 80% to pass.
But if you choose the correct answer, you get 5 percentage points. If you choose the second best answer that is correct but "less correct", then you get 4 percentage points.

So the 80% pass rate hasn't lowered, but it's easier to get the 80%
Liz, can you confirm or deny this?

I hope not........if they are giving points for second best answer then that juct about confirms 100% that ITIL certification is now little more than a money spinner for the examining boards.

It was bad enough when they did away with the 5 years experience pre-requisite before you could sit the Manager's qualification.